Titans Split Doubleheader With Pioneers In Season Finale

UW-Oshkosh's Zack Radde homered twice and drove in a career-high five runs in the first game of the day as the Titans split a baseball doubleheader at UW-Platteville during the regular-season finale for both teams Saturday (May 4).

UW-Oshkosh (18-21, 11-13 WIAC) downed the Pioneers, 15-4, in Saturday's opener. UW-Platteville (19-18, 14-10 WIAC) bounced back to claim the nightcap by an 8-3 score.

UW-Platteville will be the third seed at the WIAC Championship that commences Friday (May 10) in Whitewater. The four-team league tournament will also include host and top-seeded UW-Whitewater (30-9, 21-3 WIAC), second seeded UW-La Crosse (25-13, 19-5) and fourth-seeded UW-Stout (20-15, 12-12).

The Pioneers, who won the first two games of the season series with the Titans on Friday in Platteville, are back in the WIAC Championship field for just the third time and first since 2010.

In Saturday's opener UW-Oshkosh produced 13 hits and drew seven walks on the way to downing UW-Platteville for the 11th time in the past 13 meetings.

The Titans jumped out to an 11-0 lead following a nine-run top of the third inning as Radde homered twice during the frame. Radde's solo home run that sparked the nine-run outburst provided a 3-0 lead before his three-run shot capped the rally for an 11-0 advantage. Dylan Ott and Jonathan Selchow both added two-run singles in the third inning.

UW-Platteville cut its deficit to 11-3 in the home half of the third frame. However, UW-Oshkosh's Sean Cummins launched a solo home run in the top of the fourth inning, and the Titans increased their lead to 15-3 following a three-run fifth frame that featured RBI singles from Radde and Hunter Staniske.

Radde finished the game 3-for-5 with third and fourth home runs of the season.

Alex Koch also went 3-for-5 with three runs scored for UW-Oshkosh, which also received two hits and two RBIs from both Cummins and Ott. Cummins' homer was his team-leading fifth of the year.

Chris Atwood (6-4) earned a complete-game win for the Titans, allowing four runs (three earned) and scattering 10 hits with nine strikeouts in seven innings. He ended the season with a WIAC-leading five complete games.

UW-Platteville's Connor Crotty, Jonathan Kelso and Ross Krist each had two of the team's 10 hits.

Pioneers starting pitcher Caleb Kaufmann (4-4) was charged with the loss after giving up eight runs (six earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts in 2.1 innings.

UW-Platteville never trailed in the nightcap, building leads of 3-0 after four innings and 6-2 following a three-run sixth frame.

Krist went 3-for-5 with two RBIs to pace the Pioneers, who also received two hits each from Crotty, Collin Mormann and Josh Moses. Crotty hit a two-run homer in the third inning, while Moses doubled and drove in two runs.

UW-Platteville's Tyler Vogel improved his season record to 4-3 by holding UW-Oshkosh to two runs (one earned) on four hits across the first seven innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

Ott accounted for three of UW-Oshkosh's seven hits and stole three bases. His 18 stolen bases on the year led the team.

Titans starting pitcher Ryan Wilkening (3-6) suffered the loss, yielding eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits and three walks while striking out a career high-tying seven batters in 7.1 innings.

UW-Oshkosh's Colan Treml concluded his standout career as the WIAC's all-time leader with 301 innings pitched. He also finished second in conference history with five career shutouts, seventh with 25 wins and eighth with 244 strikeouts.